If it's for University of Phoenix, do you actually have to go anywhere to turn it in? Always wondered about that.

Yep, the Bills, Browns and Cowboys will all retire to a long offseason. Of course, we know that doesn't really exist in the NFL. So where does everyone in that group rank in our final (at least, until the week after the Super Bowl) league-wide Power Rankings? See below. We'll give you a hint: None of them are No. 32. ... SPOILER ALERT. As always, feel free to share your take -- @Harrison_NFL is the place.

Well, it's gotten to the point that
Peyton Manning has more skins on the wall than the guy who made up the expression "skins on the wall."
Manning's record collection is beginning to rival that of your creepy upstairs neighbor who plays
Keith Sweat for his OKCupid dates. While I still think Dan Marino's 1984 season is the most impressive passing performance of all time, let's give Manning his props. He's locked up his fifth MVP award -- and the
Broncos are the best team in pro football.

Dude,
how about LeGarrette Blount? Talk all you want about the clutch performances Sunday, but don't overlook the man who wears No. 29 for the Pats. In 24 carries
against the Bills, Blount ran for 189 yards -- Buffalo couldn't stop him. In fact, New England as a team rushed for 267 yards, finishing with more than 2,000 for the second straight season.

It's odd when an 11-5 finish feels like a
disappointment. This New Orleans football team rebounded from a 7-9 season and improved its defense from 32nd in yards allowed to fourth en route to securing
a very winnable playoff matchup with the
Eagles this Saturday. That's not to say that the
Saintswill win, but rather that they are certainly viable. We're thinking most organizations in the NFL would take this brand of disappointment.

RANK

8

11-5BENGALS

Big ups to
Bengals coordinator Mike Zimmer's defense, which
won the day Sunday against the
Ravens.
Andy Dalton,
meanwhile,tossedfourpicks, and none of them were acceptable. While Dalton has his defenders, and while we must acknowledge that he is still just a third-year pro, there's no question about this: Dalton is piloting a
Super Bowl-quality team while personally playing at more of a wild-card level.

RANK

9

10-6CARDINALS

Strong finish for the
Cardinals, who,
though they ultimately lost Sunday, did notably fight back from a 17-point deficit to even things up at one point against their nemesis from San Francisco. No one thought this club would win 10 games, and while there are no moral victories in the NFL (well,
except in Dallas), how can
Cardinals fans
not feel good about this team? This is the best Arizona has been since 2009 -- except
without the stress that a
Hall of Fame quarterback might retire and thus sink the ship. This group will be back.

How many Philly fans were sweating bullets
Sunday night when it looked like
Kyle Orton was going to lead the
Cowboys down the field at the end? Nice work by the
Eagles'
defense, which will never get the credit in Philadelphia that
Chip Kelly's offense does. Defensive coordinator Billy Davis' group
finished 17th in points allowed ... which is firmly in the middle of the pack. However, given the fact that Kelly is obsessed with scoring points and not burning clock, that defense figures to be good enough to potentially help Philly go deep in the playoffs.

We predicted San Diego would be the sixth seed
way back in October, and we continued to stick with it, even after the Bolts dropped to 5-7. That was the result more of our stubbornness than football IQ, but whatever.

Tough home loss for Chicago, which faces big decisions. Before we look ahead with this team, let's take a glimpse in the rearview mirror. Most league observers think
Marc Trestman did a nice job with the
Bears, who finished 8-8. And that might be true. Of course, Lovie Smith finished 10-6 last year and was fired. This would probably be an appropriate time for a "just sayin' " hashtag, but really, that's all spilled milk. Has
Jay Cutler passed his expiration date in Chicago, or will letting him sign elsewhere spoil the
Bears' future? It's the toughest call in this upcoming NFL offseason.

All that said, well, not to be Positive Perry, but here's the deal: How about the character of this football team in going from 0-4 to 8-8? The
Steelers' defense stepped it up
Sunday versus the Browns, ensuring there was no drama ... at least
on the Pittsburgh side of things. Defensive coordinator
Dick LeBeau -- all 76 years of him -- did his job. Talk about telling AARP to go to hell.

RANK

16

8-8RAVENS

1

Ravens fans are quite correct in pointing out the tough situation
Joe Flacco was placed in this year, and we certainly admire the loyalty. But all those who would rank Flacco over the
Philip Riverses,
Tony Romos and
Matt Ryans of the world just because Flacco has won a
Super Bowl should remember that he finished 32nd in passer rating, has now completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes for three straight seasons and has yet to throw more than 25 touchdown passes in a year. Of course, it sure would help if
John Harbaugh's staff could figure out a way to run the football. Maybe coaching the offensive line to open a two-foot hole would work.

RANK

17

8-8COWBOYS

1

Helluva effort by that Cowboys defense, knowing that Neckbeard (sans neckbeard) was starting at quarterback. Holding the red-hot
Eagles offense to 24 points was definitely not to be expected at this point in the season. Now, of course, the team has decisions to make regarding both the defensive and offensive coordinator positions. For those of you wondering:
DeMarco Murray is under contract for 2014. But look out for a healthy -- and freaking explosive -- Lance Dunbar.

People like Tannehill; the thought is that his upside is huge. But you can't get around how ugly
those lasttwo outings were for the quarterback: 30-of-67 (ouch!) passing for 286 yards, one touchdown and three picks. That's two poor showings in the two all-important games of Miami's season.

With the
Rams holding one pick in the top two and another in the top 15 of
the 2014 NFL Draft, the 7-9 season that just ended becomes a little bit easier to digest. So what to do at quarterback? Talk about organizational decisions. Holy cow ...

RANK

21

7-9GIANTS

2

For all of the negative chatter about the
Giants, this team won seven of its last 10 games to finish 7-9. That's called playing for your head coach. So let's pose the question: Is
Tom Coughlin (with his two
Super Bowl rings) a
Hall of Famer? Want to know your guys' thoughts ...
@Harrison_NFL.

RANK

22

7-9TITANS

Oh,
such decisions to make regarding
Mike Munchak and Jake Locker ... and after
Chris Johnson made the future of the
Titans even murkier
by running hardin Week 17. No one wants Tennessee to scrap 2014, but is the team willing to move forward with the same cast of characters and go 7-9 again?

RANK

23

7-9LIONS

3

Unbelievable. From sitting in the NFC North driver's seat at 6-3 to 7-9 and
incapable of beating a 4-10-1 Vikings ballclub rolling with a guy named
Matt Asiata at tailback. If you recall, the
Lions did lose eight in a row last year, and although Jim Schwartz did lead Detroit to the playoffs in 2011, it was a classic one-and-done appearance.
His dismissal surprised no one. Let's hope management doesn't take after its receivers and drop the ball on the new hire.

RANK

24

6-10BILLS

Well,
as one of my colleagues said Sunday, at least
Fred Jackson came to play (113 yards from scrimmage with one score). Who
can't wrap their arms around the kind of production brought by the running back who has become Buffalo's
woobie? Actually,
C.J. Spiller came to play in Week 17, too (133 total yards). Expect Jackson and Spiller to split time again in 2014.

The
Bills' run defense needs to find some guys who are willing to share responsibility. That defense has potential, but how does the unit allow 267 yards on the ground to a divisional rival?
That's getting hammered -- and it probably drove some
Bills fans to do the same.

RANK

25

5-10-1VIKINGS

Finishing 5-10-1 hurts, but this is a team I can see rebounding in 2014. The young pieces in the secondary and at wide receiver are only going to get better, while
Adrian Peterson, Kyle Rudolph and
Harrison Smith -- the nucleus -- should come back healthy.

With so much turnover at head coach and quarterback among the teams at spots 27 through 29, Atlanta actually hopped three spaces, even after a close loss. Still,
that was a tough way to finish up the regular season. Not that the effort was bad against Carolina; in fact, other than the pass protection, things played out quite well for Atlanta on Sunday at the Georgia Dome.

Oh,
but that snap!Tony Gonzalez deserved a better ending to his career, that much is certain. The
Falcons have much to think about, starting with shoring up the defense -- at all three levels -- as well as the offensive line and running back position. This will be a "best player available" kind of draft for Atlanta.

RANK

27

4-12BUCCANEERS

1

Well,
the Bucs finally letMike Glennon use his right arm,
with mixed results. And then they just flat-out
let Greg Schiano go. Were they right to? That's an interesting debate. The Bucs were 11-21 in his two years at the helm, with plenty of drama in tow, like
Victory Formation-gate and
Freeman-gate. OK, come to think of it, maybe the debate is
not that interesting ... there was definitely some cause here. Still, doesn't it make sense, even in this win-now business, to give a guy more than two years to turn his fortunes around?

RANK

28

4-12JAGUARS

1

What a disappointing finish for the Jags, who looked like a formidable NFL team there for a few weeks. Oh well -- the world is filled with false advertising campaigns. Little purple pills, little blue pills,
Jaguars football ... you know. Actually, we're counting on coach
Gus Bradley to get this defense turned around next year. Will the team draft a quarterback with
its high pick? We hope so.
What becomes of Justin Blackmon is an even larger question.

As far as
fired coach Rob Chudzinski is concerned, if it
really wasn't going to get better -- i.e., he was incapable of improving --
Browns management probably should have been able to discern that in the first place.

RANK

30

4-12RAIDERS

Yuck showing by the
Raiders in
their home finale Sunday. At least Oakland made it tough for
Peyton Manning to stay in the game ... by allowing him to score so many touchdowns. At this point,
most think coach Dennis Allen is sticking, but given the fact that, though defense is Allen's discipline, the
Raiders haven't finished in the top 25 in scoring defense in Allen's two seasons, well ... one has to wonder. For those keeping tabs at home, Oakland is 8-24 in two seasons under Allen and general manager Reggie McKenzie.

Until the
Texans did it this season, no team had ever started 2-0 and finished 2-14. No, you can't blame all of that on
Matt Schaub, as there are plenty of cracks in the dam: at the quarterback position, in the front seven and on special teams. Still, everyone knows this isn't a 2-14 squad.